We all sprinted back to Joey's house, Luke carrying a very damaged Ingrid, Joey holding my hand the whole time.
We crash through the door, surprising Brittany who was in the kitchen.
"Ingrid!" She drops the cup she was holding and it crashes to the floor.
We make our way to the couch where Luke gently sets Ingrid down.
"Are you ok?" Luke asks, kneeling in front of her so they're at the same height.
Ingrid lets out a small cough, "Yeah, I'm fine," she says unconvincingly.
"No you're not..." Luke whispers, pulling a loose piece of hair behind her ear.
"You need something to wear?" I say to Ingrid.
"Not right now, I'm fine." She never breaks eye contact with Luke.
I look over to Joey who looks over to Brittany. Brittany gets the message and retreats to her room. Joey takes me by the elbow and leads me to his room and shuts the door.
"Are you ok?" Joey whispers. I look at him confusingly. "That was pretty intense."
"Yeah I'm completely fine." I take a seat on his bed. "It's crazy, how someone would kidnap and hurt another person just for you."
"I feel like this is my fault." he sits next to me. "I mean, they were my fans."
"It's not you're fault that you're you. It's those crazy people's fault."
He stays silent. We sit with an awkward quietness before I break it, "To be honest," I look up at Joey. "I was going to run over there and let them take me."
"What!" he exclaims, "No! I would never let anyone take you, who knows what they were going to do to you. How could you think of something so stupid!"
Maybe I shouldn't have told him I was going to run. "I'm sorry."
He sighs, "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have exploded on you like that. I just didn't want to lose you."
A warm spark explodes in my chest and I let a smile spread on my face. I realize it's the first smile I've smiled since Ingrid went missing.
"Thanks, Joey. For everything. I haven't told you that. For giving me a place to stay. For not leaving me alone. For inspiring me for years. Thank you." I just felt the need to say that.
Joey stared into my eyes and replied, "No problem."
It almost felt like I forgot all my problems, all my worries. Like they were melted away in Joey's eyes. I smiled and Joey grinned back, the smile fully reaching his eyes. I haven't seen that smile in a while. It was nice seeing it. I realized how close our faces were. I could feel his breath. I suddenly tensed up, but relaxed when Joey found my hand. I closed my eyes...
"Jooooey!" Luke called from the living room.
My eyes sprung open, to find Joey in utter disappointment. I smiled at his disappointed face as he rolled his eyes. I laughed, and took his hand to drag him to Luke.
"Yeah?" Joey says as we approach Luke and Ingrid. They sit side by side, Luke's arm around Ingrid.
"Ingrid's got something to say."
Ingrid clears her throat softly, but her voice still comes out rough and fragile, "I don't want to find whoever kidnapped me. I'll be fine, and I don't want to get any of us in trouble."
Joey starts to say something, but Luke stops him, "I think it's the best thing to do. We would have had to go to court and deal with the police and everything. If Ingrid wants it, then it's fine by me."
Joey waits for a while, thinking about it. "Alright then..." he finally says.
I just nod in agreement, unsure if this is the smartest idea. "You need help cleaning up, Ingrid?" I say.
"Yes, please."
Luke helps her stand up and walks her over to Joey's room where my stuff is. Luke walks back to the kitchen where Joey's making lunch.
I pull out a pair of light blue skinny jeans and a casual baggy shirt. We've changed in front of each other before, so she starts undressing as I close the door. When I turn back, what I see shocks me.
Ingrid stands in her underwear, her body just completely covered in bruises and scratches. I gasp. "Ingrid! What happened??"
"They beat me when I tried to escape." she quickly shrugs her clothes on, wincing every now and then.
"This isn't good..." I say.
With the shirt she has on, you can clearly see every scratch and bruise on her arms. She sees the expression on my face.
"Maybe I should wear something else..." she says.
I nod and walk back to my bag of stuff. I pull out a warm long sleeved sweater. When Ingrid tries it on, it looks cute on her small body. I hand her a brush and a facial wash and send her to the bathroom in privacy.
I head back to the kitchen where Luke and Joey have finished making sandwiches. I take a seat across from Joey. Ingrid hops out of the bathroom, looking better, but still tired and worn out. Brittany joins us and we all enjoy our lunch together, reunited with Ingrid.
